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from the everybody-should-pay-their-fair-share dept.
On Saturday, November 16th, around 282,000 people blocked roads and highways all over France. The protesters, nicknamed the gillets jaunes after the yellow warning vests they wore, had organized through Facebook. Their beef: the increase in environmental taxes on gasoline, on top of a number of other tax increases.
We don't disagree with having to pay more to help act for the environment and fight climate change, was the general opinion, but why should it be only the little folks who have to pay while the elite can easily grin and bear it -- why not tax also all that heavy fuel burned by aeroplanes and tanker ships?
The action, which persisted throughout the day, resulted in over 100 wounded and one tragic death when a mother driving her child to hospital panicked.
The protesters do have a point. While media and politics rightly, if very, very much belatedly, are warning about climate change, the alternatives proposed clearly are not to be taken seriously.
The hard choices we need to face apparently come down to cities investing in smart cameras to fine visitors based on production year and type of their automobile. Public transport investing will come, but not to the countryside where car/ride sharing, Uber and similar services simply are not viable; Tesla and relatives are on another price planet for ordinary people.
As to the EU's emission trading system (ETS) that should drive industry to climate change action: news broke on the same day as the gillets jaunes actions that Britain -- on the verge of leaving the EU -- is one of the biggest net exporters of such credits: Britain had 900 million of these credits too much, for the years 2013-2015 alone.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday November 18 2018, @03:05PM (4 children)
There's a problem there. Congress doesn't have the explicit constitutional authority to gather money in that manner and cannot legally gather money in any manner not explicitly granted. It would require an amendment to be done legally without it being a tax or tariff.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 18 2018, @04:13PM (3 children)
> Congress doesn't have the explicit constitutional authority to gather money in that manner and cannot legally gather money in any manner not explicitly granted.
Congress collects money in all sorts of ways, doesn't seem all that different from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highway_Trust_Fund [wikipedia.org] to me.
A further quote from http://www.lessgovletsgo.org/proposal.html [lessgovletsgo.org] :
> That is the policy, somewhat simplified. Elsewhere in this website is a "white paper" in which we have tried to foresee many of the details for which action would need to be taken.
Note that this scheme doesn't have to be implemented quickly, it could start out with a small tax/rebate to get the system primed and then ratchet up over time. Similar to social security taxes...(ducking!)
(Score: 3, Informative) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday November 18 2018, @04:38PM (2 children)
I did qualify that with the word "legally". Congress has done quite a number of things over the years it isn't legally entitled to do.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 18 2018, @04:50PM (1 child)
Different AC -- but realize that "legally" ultimately is determined by SCOTUS. And they have ruled that anytime the government is collecting money for a sufficiently good reason, we can all PRETEND that it is "legally" a "tax."
See Chief Justice Roberts and his ruling on Obamacare. Also, if the Constitution could pretend that black "people" weren't people when the US was founded, surely we can all pretend that any money collected by the government is legally a "tax" when it suits our purposes.
(Score: 2, Informative) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday November 18 2018, @06:35PM
It's supposed to be determined by the constitution. SCOTUS making decisions even it knows are bullshit doesn't change a single word of our founding document.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.